A Year in Review: A Look Back and the 15 Most Popular Posts

There's a lot new in Honolulu's food and drink scene this year, from new fine dining restaurants such as Arancino at The Kahala to Rico Rico, a little Peruvian roast chicken joint on King Street. Chinatown lost two of its favorite establishments—Otto Cake and Indigo—but gained two new restaurants, the Vietnamese-inspired The Pig and the Lady and Moroccan and Lebanese Kan Zaman. Glenn Chu of Indigo observed that energy was moving to Kakaako, which has seen the opening of scrappy restaurants like Taste and sleek, glossy ones such as Chef Chai.

If you thought Honolulu was already saturated with ramen and Korean barbecue, the popularity of three new ramen joints (Santouka, Agu Ramen, Kiwami) and two new Korean restaurants (678 Hawaii and Budnamujip) proved otherwise. While both the Korean restaurants are based in Korea, they couldn't be more different: Budnamujip is high end and sublime, 678 Hawaii pure fun and high energy.

First Look: MW Restaurant
MW Restaurant, the venture of husband-and-wife team Michelle and Wade Ueoka, officially opens today for lunch and dinner. There, you'll see Wade directing traffic in the kitchen and Michelle, despite the stunning amount of counter space, confining herself to a small square of real estate, plating desserts. Read more...

Three Fat Pigs and Ippy's Hawaiian BBQ
On last season's Food Network Star, Philip Aiona, aka Ippy, from Waimea, proved his likability as a laid-back 23-year-old from Hawaii. He didn't win, but in less than a year since the show ended, he's opened two restaurants in Waikoloa.Read more...

Five Hawaii Beers You Need to Try
Hawaii, once awash in green bottled beer, is producing a number of award-winning breweries. In the last five years, new breweries have opened up on each of the four major islands, for a total of eight active breweries and many more in the planning stages.Read more...

Coming Soon: MW Restaurant
Combined, Michelle Karr-Ueoka and Wade Ueoka have spent more than 30 years working alongside Alan Wong. The husband-and-wife team met at Wong's namesake restaurant, where Michelle spent most of her years as a pastry chef, Wade as chef de cuisine.Read more...

First Look: The Pig and the Lady
The Pig and the Lady restaurant opened yesterday, drawing its farmer market regulars and pop-up fans to a new brick-and-mortar location in Chinatown. (Among its fans? Daniel Dae Kim, who tweeted the restaurant as a "must go.")Read more...

Chez Kenzo Bar and Grill
The former co-owners of Genius Lounge in Waikiki have brought their eclectic, Japanese-leaning, fusion comfort food to more local, sports bar-style digs in the former Verbano space on King St.
The menu is over 100 items long.
Read more...

About This Blog

From five-star restaurants to hidden holes-in-the-wall, Biting Commentary will let you know what’s hot and what’s not. Find out the latest restaurant news—who’s opening, who’s closing, which chef is moving on, where the great special dinners are. Discover the best menu items, fabulous wines, stunning cocktails and hand-crafted beers.